CEO Vlada Bortnik on our purpose

At Marco Polo, our purpose is simple: to help people feel close. Before there was even an app, we had our purpose.

The key to happiness? Close relationships

When you become a parent, life changes right away and completely. My husband Michał and I, like most parents, asked ourselves, “What do we want for our kids?” We wanted to model for them what it was like to work on something meaningful that would make a difference in the world. But we had no idea what that would be.

So we came back to that same question, “What do we want for our kids?” Happiness, of course. As engineers, we were just audacious enough to believe that we could find a way to engineer more happiness for them and maybe even the world. We dove into research--every book and article on hapiness. We watched every TED talk, talked to colleagues and industry experts in the science of happiness. All of that complex research led to one simple conclusion: the key to happiness? Close relationships.

The Grant Study from Harvard is the longest study ever done on happiness. Eighty years of data adds up to one thing: you can have a career that you love, you can have money, fame and more but if you don’t have healthy, supportive relationships, happiness will always be just out of reach.

Helping people close

It became our purpose. But, when we looked at our own lives as a young family we were struggling. Our parents and friends were spread all over the world and staying in touch was really hard. Social media connection felt superficial and overwhelming and video calls worked but our weekends quickly became overscheduled. As every parent knows, life doesn’t happen on a schedule. What was supposed to be bringing us closer together started to feel like a chore.

There had to be a better way. And that better way for us and millions of others would become Marco Polo.

Our purpose is what sets us apart

Our purpose affects everything we do–from the way we make money, to the features we build, to the people we hire to work here. It holds us accountable to our community because for people to feel close, they have to trust the technology they are using to connect.

That trust is not something we take for granted. We believe you shouldn’t have to compromise your privacy and well-being to connect with the people you love.

We’ve built a company around a purpose, not a product. And that purpose has helped us create a company that offers a new standard of healthy technology–one that delivers value and nurtures your well-being. It doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be both.

As a tech company, we can’t stay the same if we want to be around for the long haul. And we do. But we can promise that our purpose won’t change. It has and will always be at the center of everything.